rivt is an extensible, open-source Python tool for writing engineering documents with a focus on reuse [1]. Python knowledge is not required but rivt capabilities can be extended with Python scripts that access scientific and engineering libraries.
There are four types of rivt document files:
| A rivt file is the basic input file that
rivt file | compiles to a text, PDF or HTML document.
| It is a Python file (.py) that imports the
| rivtlib Python package.
| A rivt doc is the published output of a
rivt doc | rivt file. A doc is an output file in
rivt chapter | formatted text, PDF or HTML. In the context
| of a report or book a doc is a chapter. All
| formats are compiled from the same rivt file.
| A rivt report is the published output
| of multiple docs collated into a single
rivt report | text, PDF or HTML file. Each doc is a
| chapter in the report. Chapters are
| grouped together in divisions.
| A rivtbook is a collection of rivt files
rivtbook | with a common subject matter and
| organized for efficient selection and
| inclusion in docs and reports.
For an overview of rivt see here. To get started using rivt see here and here for installation and tutorials. For rivt and AI see here.
The rivtlib Python package formats and compiles a rivt file to a text, PDF or HTML document ( doc ) in about a second. rivt file sections may be interactively executed in an IDE, similar to a Jupyter notebook. Multiple rivt files may be compiled into a collated rivt report. This website is an example of an HTML rivt report. rivtbooks are collections of rivt files about a common subject matter and organized for efficient selection and inclusion in reports.
A convenient interface for searching and downloading public rivt files on GitHub is here. Open source engineering models, documents and examples, including rivt, may be downloaded from Google Drive.
rivt produces clear, organized engineering documents from active calculations using reasonable defaults. Use cases are listed here. Document tools like Quarto are likely better tools for static, formatted documents including journal articles and books that do not need recalculation. A brief discussion of engineering document tools and their strengths relative to the objectives of rivt is here.
ver: 1.0.0a12 (Note: rivt is currently alpha sofware. Some features are incomplete and markup tags, commands and assignments may change.)